Frugal In Florida

Summertime is here, the Boy is home and I'm thinking, frozen yogurt to the rescue! No, not the kind that resembles ice cream, that is NOT what I'm talking about. What I AM talking about is frozen yogurt CUBES for smoothies and such. Uh huh. Makes life so much easier. And then, to make things even better, you just cut up your fruit and add them to little bags too ... And just like that, you have Smoothie Bags. Awesome! Feel free to use recycled ziploc bags. (don't worry, raw chicken NEVER saw this bag ... it was an overestimation of how many bags I needed for freezing) So...it's not a big deal to do ... but you do have to make an effort ... Take your yogurt (personally, I've started going with PLAIN yogurt) and dish it into the ice cube trays. Smooth out the top if you are OCD, or just leave as I do. Freeze. Once frozen, pop them out of the trays into ziploc bags and toss in the freezer. When ready to use in a smoothie, toss a few cubes ...

We all know the "right" thing to do, eat, etc. butlike so many things in life, I feel the need to toe the line. I've been on vacation, so to speak, for the past week...away from my home, staying with family. Family that is good, kind, caring and so in tune (borderline freaky) ... This has changed my sleeping and eating habits quite a bit. But it is a good thing. I made the grain free almond biscuits the other night....doubled the recipe...it was a hit and compared to red lobsters cheddar biscuits which I could NOT compare ... And I had one for breakfast the other morning so that was good. Of course, I have also had about 20 beers, a few lemon drops, a few patron shots, quite a bit of fried food AND lots of white squishy like bread. Which brings me to my point of ... Utter discomfort. Bloating.  Gassy.  Ugg. Good news is now I can say with 100% conviction that the revised way of eating IS making a difference. So for the next 5 days I will do the best I a...

I really do try and plan during the weekend for my week ahead. Some days are better than others! For instance, we all know that I do my salad prep and store in canning jars ... and if I'm thinking ahead, I will make some salad dressing too (lately, it's been 1/2 olive oil, 1/2 balsamic vinegar and a dash of salt ... shake well, put a lid on it and there you go ... perfect, light, nice) ... I do some batch cooking, a little extra chicken when I grill. I make a ton more veggies than I think we will eat (especially if we are grilling them!). Same with other meats (oh, evil jungle salad with leftover steak!) ... I make it a point to cut the meat up after it's cooled to eliminate THAT step in the mornings too! And, oh, lets not forget about cooking and freezing extra pasta ! I've discovered that the grain free biscuits freeze GREAT so that's on my list of things to make ahead (not sure how long they'd keep on the counter, they do feel a little 'mo...